


Honest(l)y

by Cumberbatch Critter (ivelostmyspectacles)



Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: Dinner, Episode Related, Exasperation, Family Drama, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Skinny Dipper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2763800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivelostmyspectacles/pseuds/Cumberbatch%20Critter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry just doesn't seem to get it: honesty is the best policy.</p><p>Abe's torn between throwing his hands up or faux-strangling him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honest(l)y

**Author's Note:**

> Because I'm not really shy on admitting that I think HE NEEDS TO BLOODY WELL TELL HER.
> 
> I do not own _Forever_. Thanks for reading!

_December 13 th_, 7:51 pm

 

_Dinner_

 

It wasn't the first awkward dinner that Henry and Abraham Morgan would have had. It likely wouldn't be the last. But the dining room was swallowed by the sound of silence, only the click and clank of forks against old china audible.

Henry reached for his glass. It was a lovely Amarona della Valpolicella, Italian for Italian with their chicken parmigiana and crouton salad. He would appreciate it more if the night were not so sombre.

"Is this the 2006?" he asked idly.

"2008," Abe replied.

Henry looked at his glass. "Oh, really? I could have sworn it was the '06."

A crouton cracked under Abe's fork. "It's the '08," he said, and took a bite of his salad.

Henry sighed. "Okay." He put down his fork. "Seeing as how I can't handle another awkward conversation tonight, what exactly is the reason for the distance here?" He folded his hands on the table and looked inquiringly at Abe.

"Oh, is there distance? I hadn't noticed."

All of Abraham's teenage youth was present in the tone. Henry could still cringe over some of the dinners that they had had while Abe was growing up. He had been Abraham's father, first and foremost, but looking back now, he didn't blame Abe at all. Their life hadn't exactly been the most forgiving.

"Abraham," he said warningly, and his tone was every bit the father figure that he had been for sixty-nine years. "Clearly, it's something I've done," he relented, attempting to level his tone. "But I admit that I don't know what."

"Okay, you wanna know what?" Abe set his fork down. "I thought we had agreed about something."

Henry raised his eyebrows. "Which was?"

"You tell Jo the truth-"

So that was what this was about. Henry sighed and sat back in his chair, whisking his napkin off of his lap.

"- or we were getting out of here," Abe finished.

"Abe-"

"Now, don't give me that ‘Abe’ stuff," Abe retorted. "I understand, Henry. I do. But you have to realize that everyone is not going to turn you away."

"I told her the truth," Henry said. "I told her about Adam. I've had several regales of the _truth_ tonight, actually. The worst one was with their Lieutenant present, and, might I add, she doesn't care for me much to begin with."

"Now you know _full-well_ that that was not what we were talking about."

"You said the truth," Henry muttered, taking his glass in hand. "You didn't specify on which one."

"Oh, for God's sake, Henry!"

He had to admit to a certain twinge of deep-rooted disrespect. Even if his son was sixty-nine while he was in the body of an immortal thirty-five year old, he wanted to remind him to _mind his tone_. He did not, however.

"I know what you've been through, Henry. You told me, remember? I've even been there for some of it," Abe continued, "but one of these days, I'm not going to be around anymore-"

Henry did cringe then.

"- and who are you going to turn to haul your naked butt back to our place? I'm not asking you to... to replace mom, or anything," he said, softer, "but... we need a back-up here, Henry. _You_ need a back-up."

Henry tried to sort through the thoughts swirling in his mind. "Well." He closed his eyes briefly. Reopened them. "Not today," he said, gulped back the last of his wine in one movement, and stood.

"Henry."

Henry paused, trying not to glare towards the innocent woodwork.

"Not everyone is going to be Nora."

Henry frowned and tried not to be overwhelmed with the traditional fear, acceptance, betrayal, and ultimately, denial. He failed, relatively.

"No," he agreed. "But not everyone is going to be your mother, either." He left the room to pour himself another glass of the Valpolicella, and was hesitant to walk back into the dining room were it not for dinner that was going cold.

He sat back down and meticulously returned his napkin to his lap before picking up his fork and knife. He had nothing to add to the conversation, although he was aware that Abraham was watching him thoughtfully while he pulled apart the garlic bread.

"How much of a difference would it make?"

Henry paused. "How much of a difference would what make?" he asked as pleasantly as possible, wiping up a spot of sauce from the edge of his plate.

"Telling Jo."

"Abe..."

"No, hear me out." Abe was looking at him again. Henry could feel his eyes on his head. "You said that you would tell her, or we would move. You were going to choose to take off, you and me both. You know that I'll go wherever you do. But what's the worst that could happen if you told Jo? She doesn't believe you and thinks you're crazy? Then we'd take off. Or she could choose to believe you, and you give her the proof she needs for her rational mind to accept it, and you'd have not only a closer friendship, but an ally in this war against Adam."

Henry's appetite was dwindling. He didn't have an argument, not from a logical standpoint. He knew that, and so did Abe. But something prevented him. Something prevented him from having that bond with another person. Part of it was still grief over Abigail, but the other part was... a blatant lack of trust.

It wasn't as though he didn't trust Detective Martinez. He did. And it wasn't a matter of pride, the fact that he could fall so far by the exposure of one unbelievable secret. Not really. It was... insecurity. And for all of his years, Henry would never get over that.

Abe interrupted his thoughts. "You trust me?"

Now Henry looked up. "Abraham. Of course. Always. You're my-"

"Ah." Abe cut him off, holding up a finger. "Don't answer as a father. Just answer in general."

Henry contemplated Abe for a long moment. He was hoping that this had a point, and he was sure that it did, but hearing Abe question his loyalty was perhaps the worst blow that he had been dealt today. "... Unconditionally, Abe."

Abe nodded to himself, and his lips were pulling up at the corners. "Then, trust me, Henry, and tell her the truth." He reached for the bread. "The _whole_ truth," he added, glancing up from dinner again. "So help me God."

Henry scoffed softly, trying not to smile from both relief and the quiet humour. "Quite a big speech," he commented.

"Big project," Abe replied, raising his eyebrows. "Stubborn dad."

Henry did laugh a little bit, but smothered it beneath his chicken parmigiani. He'd find a way to say thanks, later, when his emotions weren't so raw and his heart so confused. But maybe Abe was right. Maybe he had been too willing to let this slip away without trying. The worst that could happen was that he would end up in an asylum as a disgraced medical examiner, and asylums today were nowhere near the torture that he had experienced ages ago.

That being said. He didn't plan on running out to tell Detective Martinez the truth most presently. Maybe in the future, and maybe even the foreseeable one.

Right now, he had chicken parmigiani, Abraham for company, and a lot to think about. Only when he worked through the former (now) and latter (soon) could he think about bringing another person into the complicated web that was his life.

Wouldn't it be nice to have someone else to trust? For both him and Abe to have someone else to turn to?

Henry found himself pondering how much of a difference it would make.

He wondered how nice it would be.

**Author's Note:**

> (I don't remember if the whole attack was immediately after the conversation Henry had with the precinct, if it was implied that it was that same night, but, I couldn't remember and it's not on ABC yet for a rewatch. Shhh. Roll with it.)


End file.
